Health care providers are encountering a significant increase in cases of mycobacterial infections. Many of these new cases are related to the AIDS epidemic. Physicians rely on clinical microbiologists to assist them in diagnosing mycobacterial infection. The diagnosis of such infections is, however, largely dependent on acid fast staining and cultivation of the organism, followed by biochemical assays. These are time consuming processes. Hence, there is a continuing need for new, and particularly rapid, methods of diagnosing mycobacterial infections.